I Saw That
by PizzaNSunshine
Summary: Set Post-Blockheads, immediately after the curse was lifted- just after Luisa joins the indoor olaball match. Isabel desperately wants to help her team win and decides to pick on Mateo by teasing him to distraction. How will Mateo react to the young princess's mischievous tactics?


"De Alva! Go long!" Luisa shouted as she flipped the ball up with her toe, sending it soaring across the palace entrance hall with a solid back fist.

In the seconds it took for the ball to reach him, Mateo glanced around the room, noticing that Naomi was running to cover Luisa while Isabel and Gabe were both sprinting towards him, leaving Elena wide open. He knew that he would need to act without hesitation if he was going to avoid handing the ball over to them like a Navidad gift. "Elena!" he shouted, "to the hoop!"

With a roguish grin and a nod, she sprinted to the hoop–– setting herself and Mateo up for an easy combo shot. As the ball reached the young wizard, he leapt into the air and smacked it with his head, sending it flying over Gabe's head, straight for the crown princess.

Laughing merrily, Elena jumped with an elegant twirl and caught the ball in a graceful roundhouse kick, sending it straight through the hoop.

"Show off," Gabe grumbled, crossing his arms, as Isabel, looking slightly crestfallen at the missed opportunity to steal the ball, said, "Awww."

"Nice combo, you two!" Luisa called out approvingly as Mateo and Elena ran over for a team high five.

Slapping Mateo goodnaturedly on the back, Elena winked, saying, "That was some quick thinking, Mr. Royal Wizard. I'm impressed!"

A slight blush colored his cheeks as he beamed at the princess's praise–– tiny goosebumps popping up beneath his robe where her hand had touched his back. Grinning crookedly in response, Mateo said, "Thanks, Elena! You were pretty spectacular yourself! That kick–" he trailed off as Elena flashed his favorite smile that never failed to dazzle him.

The pair shared a long look before Luisa coughed pointedly and barked, "Elena! Face off! You know what to do!"

Mateo shook his head a little, trying to clear it as he stared after Elena's retreating form. He didn't know what had just come over him, but he needed to get his head back in the game, or Luisa might just kick him out of the friendly match.

Though the storm raged outside the palace, Mateo was enjoying a–– mostly–– friendly game of indoor olaball with his friends and Elena's family. It was hard to believe that the day had started so bright and sunny with plans to spend the day on the beach with his friends. Once the storm had hit, however, the beach plans had been cancelled and plans for an indoor olaball match had been born–– leading to their misadventure involving a hidden ruin beneath the palace, a Maruvian enchanted fire opal, and a curse.

His thoughts turning to the gem that started all the trouble, Mateo was still in shock that the fire opal had been enchanted. Truthfully, he felt completely responsible for their misadventure seeing as he was the one who encouraged Naomi to touch the gem in the first place. He'd seen and touched fire opals before and had read about them in several of his grandfather's books–– they possessed fascinating magical properties. Fire opals were the perfect substance to act as a magical focus, much like Maruvian blue crystal, however, he'd never found anything to indicate there was a gem that handed out curses like candy residing within the palace itself–– he really needed to borrow that book on Maruvian artifacts from Isabel.

And then there was the fact that his own magic couldn't touch the curse–– that in itself was humiliating. He was supposed to be the royal wizard–– which made it his job to be an expert in all things relating to magic, but he was nowhere near the level of skill and power compared to the ancient Maruvian wizards. It was the second time in recent weeks that his magic had been rendered useless–– the first being the afternoon they spent on Captain Chiloya's party ship–– and that was unacceptable to him. He knew that the first law of magic stated that if a spell can be cast, a spell could be broken. The trick was in possessing magic more powerful than the original spell, and this experience had shown Mateo that he still had a long way to go before he achieved true mastery of the magical arts.

His current level of magical mastery aside, Mateo had a more pressing problem at the moment–– he really needed to focus on the olaball game. He wasn't about to let Elena down. As he ran to his position at mid-court, Mateo grinned watching Elena smirking at Gabe in challenge as they faced off for possession of the ball. Mateo thought she'd been amazing that day–– taking charge like the leader she was even though she had been transformed into a tiny wooden cube. She'd kept her head when most people would have panicked upon becoming cursed and never stopped encouraging them to work together in spite of their frustrations. She was always quick to come up with plan B whenever plan A failed–– which happened a lot that day. It was awe inspiring, really, and Mateo knew that he'd follow her anywhere.

Groaning as Gabe elbowed the ball out of Elena's control, Mateo sprinted across the court to where Isabel was open, trying to cover her while still making sure she had a chance to play. It was a delicate balance–– trying to keep Luisa's competitive nature appeased while not hurting Isabel's feelings by snatching the ball from over her head.

"I saw that," Isabel said with a smirk as she tried to get herself into a better position to intercept a pass.

Perplexed, Mateo kept his eye on the ball as he stuck to her side, saying, "Saw what?"

"The way that you looked at her."

Mateo stopped and stared at the little princess, color flooding his cheeks as he said, "I d– don't know what you're talking about. L– looked at who?" His hand shooting awkwardly to the back of his neck in his characteristic telltale sign that he was trying to hide something.

"My sister," Isabel's said in a slow, sing-song voice, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she jumped in front of Mateo, shouting, "GABE! I'M OPEN!"

Before Mateo could react, his mouth still open in shock at the accusation, the ball flew right past his head and Isabel giggled with delight as she took possession of it and dashed away.

"DE ALVA! GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!" Luisa shouted from across the court.

 _Oh, it's on_ , he thought as he grit his teeth and chased after Isabel. No more Mr. Nice Guy. But before he could reach her, she kicked the ball in a pass to Naomi, but was intercepted by Luisa who elbowed the ball to Elena.

"Nice one, Luisa!" Mateo shouted in relief that his distraction hadn't cost his team a point. He shot a mock glare at Isabel, "Nice try, but it won't work again."

A knowing smile played about her lips as she said, "We'll see about that."

The match continued on, possession of the ball moving between the two teams, and banter ranging from friendly to slightly disgruntled–– depending on who had possession of the ball–– was passed between the six players.

Mateo and Elena had fallen into a rhythm as they quickly learned how to work as a single unit–– quick combo shots had become their greatest strength. Mateo had been watching the way she moved and could predict where he needed to be when she needed him to be there. He noticed certain twitches that signaled when she was looking to make a pass or when she thought they were ready to go for the hoop.

As he watched, Mateo couldn't help but notice the graceful way she ran–– she moved with speed and agility–– beautifully, like a dancer. It took a considerable effort to keep his thoughts on the game and on working as part of a team when they kept drifting to how graceful her movements were and how attractive he found her athletic skill to be.

"I saw that," came Isabel's quiet sing-song voice as she caught up to Mateo, who had possession of the ball and was dribbling it across the court.

Sighing with exasperation, Mateo said, "Saw what?"

"You were watching her–– with great interest. I think you were rather mesmerized."

Feeling his face warming, Mateo tried to play it cool. "Of course I was watching her. She's my teammate, I have to watch her for cues."

"Oh? And what cues are you finding in her swaying hips? Hmmm?"

"What?! I wasn't– How could y– I didn't– Argh!"

Utterly mortified, Mateo tripped over his feet and tumbled to the ground as Isabel giggled, stealing the ball and shouting, "NAOMI! HERE!" And she kicked the ball in a neat pass to Naomi who immediately headbutted it through the hoop, scoring a point and tying the score.

"Time out!" Elena called as she ran over to where Mateo was lying face down on the floor. "Mateo! Are you ok?" she asked as she gently grasped his elbow and helped him to his feet.

His face burning, Mateo rubbed the back of his neck, spluttering, "I– I'm fine. Thanks, Elena. I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped. Sorry about that." He looked at the floor, feeling ashamed and embarrassed that he'd let Elena down and allowed Isabel to purposely distract him–– again.

She smiled gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Mateo. Contrary to what my abuela says, olaball is just for fun and the important thing is that you're not hurt. You are ok, aren't you?" She peered more closely at him, concern etching her lovely features.

"I'm fine, let's finish this," Mateo replied with a crooked grin, his heart racing at that smile and her touch.

Elena gave his shoulder a little squeeze and flashed a roguish grin. "Alright! Let's do this!"

An odd fluttering sensation like butterflies erupted in his stomach as he met her eye and nodded, watching her as she bounded across the court. He gave his head yet another little shake and squinted his eyes shut a moment–– he really needed to focus. It was just a fun match, but he couldn't stand the thought of losing because his mind was wandering to places it ought not go.

Luisa called out, "Match point!"

This was the point that would decide the game. The two teams were tied and Luisa had a determined gleam in her eye. Mateo knew that she would not take it well if they lost, and he wanted to please her almost as much as he wanted to please Elena.

Elena faced off against Gabe and passed the ball to Mateo, who shouted, "Luisa!" and kicked the ball to her. She juggled the ball with her knees a moment as Elena sprinted past Gabe.

"I'm open!" Elena called out as Luisa sent the ball soaring towards her, but Gabe intercepted it with a "whoop!" of triumph and took off down the court towards the hoop.

Mateo was covering Isabel, and could see that she desperately wanted to make that game winning shot. Had she not played dirty before, purposely distracting Mateo with her teasing, he may have been inclined to make the sacrifice and let her have it, but now it was personal. If she wanted to play like the big kids, he was going to treat her like a big kid.

As Isabel sprinted towards the hoop, her mouth set in fierce determination, Mateo fell back just a bit, giving the false impression that she had broken away from his cover, until she called out, "Gabe! I'm open!" Mateo caught Elena's eye and jerked his head slightly down the court, indicating that he was about to pass it in that direction. She understood and sprinted in the direction he indicated. As soon as Gabe kicked the ball to Isabel, Mateo leapt in front of her, shouting, "ELENA!" as he slammed the ball with his elbow, passing it to Elena who took possession of the ball with a wide grin and juggled it in place.

Elena cried out, "Use your head, Mr. Royal Wizard!"

Mateo sprinted towards the hoop as she sent the ball flying with a kick. He took a flying leap into the air and slammed the ball through the hoop with his head, landing neatly on his feet and pumping his fist into the air in victory.

"Game point!" Luisa called out, "We win!" She jogged over and clapped Mateo on the back. "Nice work, Mateo! Mark your calendar! I need you on the royal olaball team for next year's peace festival tournament!"

Grinning sheepishly, Mateo ran a hand through his hair and said, "That means a lot coming from you, Luisa. Thanks."

Elena dashed from the other end of the court, cheering all the way and threw her arms around Mateo's neck, crushing him in a fierce hug. "You did it! You did it!"

Mateo was certain that the temperature in the palace had definitely risen about ten degrees in those few seconds as he blushed at her affectionate display of excitement from winning the game. Unsure of what to do, he awkwardly returned the hug, saying, "Thanks! We make a pretty good team."

She pulled back, knocking the breath from Mateo as she smiled her most dazzling smile. "That we do." She pulled him in for one last squeeze before stepping away to congratulate Gabe and Naomi on a game well played, leaving Mateo alone to stare after her with his somewhat confused thoughts.

"I saw that."

"The game's over, Isa. You don't have to keep trying to distract me."

"I know. But I really did see it."

Sighing, Mateo said, "Ok, fine. See what?"

"You like her."

Raising a confused eyebrow, Mateo said, "Of course I like her. She's one of my best friends."

"But you like her, like her."

"What?! No! It's not––"

Isabel grinned mischievously and started singing in a quiet voice that only Mateo could hear, "Mateo and Elena sitting in a tree––"

Groaning, Mateo covered his face with his hands, and said, "Please, don't."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Really? Do you have to do this?"

"First comes love––"

"Is this punishment for intercepting the ball earlier?"

"Then comes marriage––"

Mateo just groaned as she finished the song.

"Then comes the baby in the baby carriage!"

Isabel laughed and patted Mateo on the back as she said seriously, "It's ok, you know. I think she likes you too."

At those words, she turned and skipped away, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like, "––sitting in a tree…" leaving a stunned Mateo to stare after the young princess, wondering if she was actually serious or if she was just teasing him–– again


End file.
